The NBC Olympics, Caeleb Dressel hype machine has begun with an appearance by the World Champion swimmer on the network’s flagship TODAY show on Monday morning.
NBC tipped its hand about who it was planning on making its next Olympic superstar when they broke out the Michael Phelps comparisons. NBC has been the American rights holder for the Olympic Games since 1988, which includes the entirety of Phelps’ career. Both Phelps and NBC profited wildly from Phelps’ stardom. An appearance by a swimmer on TODAY signifies a lot of coverage, and consequentially some mainstream attention and increased commercial viability for an athlete.
The 22-year old Dressel won 6 gold medals at the 2019 World Championships 2 weeks ago, including 4 gold medals in his 4 individual events: the 50 free, 100 free, 50 fly, and 100 fly. The 100 fly came in a new World Record time, breaking Phelps’ old mark. He won 8 total medals at the championship, which nobody (even Phelps) has ever done – though Phelps didn’t have the advantage of the mixed relays. Dressel was named the Swimmer of the Meet for the second-straight edition.
Watch Dressel’s Appearance below:
About f—— time.
So much negativity. just sayin
Best of July, Team USA Award – https://www.teamusa.org/News/2019/August/05/Caeleb-Dressel-Delaney-Schnell-And-US-Womens-Soccer-Team-Awarded-Best-Of-July – continue the hype.
What a guy!
Since Caeleb is the focus here, I have a question about his tattoo. When I see it on TV, it looks muddied. Have any of you actually seen it in person, and if so, does it pop out with great radiance?
I don’t even know how professional swimmers get tattoos especially huge ones like that. You aren’t suppose to soak tattoo’s for 3-6 weeks after you get them done so they could heal!
You can still tell what everything is supposed to be but he definitely swam soon after getting each part of the sleeve done (much sooner than most people would swim). He also spends quite a bit of time out in the sun which is also not great for keeping tattoos vibrant. Overall it’s a pretty great piece of work he has but it may need some touching up
It pops out with great radiance, just like the rest of him.
Dressel’s resting face in that interview reads to me as “why am I here? I haven’t even made the team yet…”. Maybe I just see the best in him but seems humble as always!
He knows why he’s there. He posed with his agent on set and called her the best agent ever on IG. He’s not a businessman, he’s a business, man.
Saw his IG post too. Said he doesn’t fit in nyc that much but hardly any of us does lol
Warning: Handle the hype machine with care.Only get on one if you taken the safety course.
It’s like one of those Honda ATVs – it can be a real hoot to drive around at high speed…but then you hit an unexpected bump and it flips over and crushes you.
Indeed. The flip side of the hype machine (even for those who’ve been on it in more limited doses) is that once you’ve been part of that ride, you have a hankering to get back on it — even in your later years when your physical skills have diminished. That’s especially sad. I’m sure you can think of your own examples.
Lochte Ladecky and Dressel storylines should help drive up ratings
Reagan Smith has that Missy Franklin thing going on, and she’s better than Franklin was in her first WC before her first Olympics.